Cowichan Valley struggling to cope with growing homelessness, drug issues, local leaders say

Al Siebring says he sees the remnants of abandoned camping equipment — tents, sleeping bags, tarps, clothing, cooking supplies — "all over the place" in Vancouver Island's Cowichan Valley.

The North Cowichan mayor says clean-up is a huge problem, especially when the discarded items include needles, drug paraphernalia and other biohazardous items.

It's a sign, he says, of the growing issues of homelessness and drug use in the Cowichan Valley — and how the mostly rural area isn't prepared to handle them.

"These folks like to set up where people don't normally see them," Siebring told host Kathryn Marlow on CBC's All Points West. "They like to be kind of out of sight, out of mind. But then when they pack up and leave, they don't pack up a lot of the stuff and it leaves a mess behind."

But the issue goes beyond clean-up, he says.

The region's homeless shelter, while functional, is beset by issues like safety and a lack of supportive services. The region's overdose prevention site, he says, received 54,000 visits over the last 12 weeks. 

"We're just not used to this kind of stuff ... We need more help for the homeless but we need it in conjunction with a whole bunch of other services: safe drug supply, counselling, getting people off the drugs, getting them back into the mainstream," Siebring said.

"We have a real problem here."

Along with members of the Cowichan leadership group — which includes the area's MP, MLA, mayors, chief of Cowichan Tribes, and the head of the school district — Siebring has sent a letter to 10 different provincial cabinet ministers asking for help. 

One of the ministers they contacted is Shane Simpson, B.C.'s minister of social development and poverty reduction.

While Simpson said he had not yet received a letter from the group, he agreed with the mayor that housing requires supportive services and the two are closely linked — and that municipalities and the province need to work together on the problem. 

"I'd agree with the mayor that it needs to be a co-ordinated effort ... if we're going to be able to have an impact," Simpson said. 

He also said the province is working on a number of different strategies to address housing affordability, including building more housing, working with the private sector and introducing modular housing units in different communities.

"There isn't room for kind of a provincial one-size-fits-all approach to addressing homelessness," he said.

"It's local governments [and] local service providers who in many communities can … and we can think about how we make sure we meet their needs if we're going to be successful."